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Insomnia has its rewards…

May, 5th, 2008

I don’t know why, but I wake up in the middle of the night so frequently I wonder why I go to bed in the first place. Last August, while you were likely asleep, I was wide awake fretting how woodworkers tend to put their fingers at risk when sawing small stock. Then an idea came upon me…

With patents pending, we will soon introduce a completely new way to crosscut wood and make joinery entirely by hand. And although this saw really shines with small stock, it will cut hardwood or softwood up to 6″ in width and 1-5/8″ thick, which is the vast majority of crosscuts for most. It is quiet, accurate, and the cut is so smooth no further work is necessary for cleanup. It is rather remarkable because accuracy like this has never been possible without power. There is also no need for hearing protection, dust collection and it is very safe.

Many woodworkers view new ideas with a bias towards their own skills and techniques and are slow to embrace change–woodworking is the most anachronistic hobby in America. So, over the past four months I have given demonstrations to several different groups of woodworkers to determine interest in this newway of cutting wood. We also demonstrated the saw in Cologne, Germany in March. I will write more later, but until then, check out the two images below – all of these cuts were hand sawn! We think you will agree, these images are strong indicators of a tool that rivals, and exceeds in many cases, the capability of power-hungry alternatives.

-John

These two boards were cut entirely by hand with a new handsaw from Bridge City. The cuts are smooth, accurate and depth is consistent within .002″ on every cut. Each board took about 10 minutes and is comprised of 88 individual cuts.

In an effort to fully understand the capabilities of our new saw, we quickly cut angled cuts into two pieces of wood and nested them. This is amazing when one considers no power was used. Each piece was cut in approximately 5 minutes and consists of 42 individual hand cuts.

2 comments on this post:

I’m sure anyone who has ever made joints watched this demo the same way that I just did: Mouth agape. I’m really impressed. The simplicity and flexibility is astounding. Truly, that saw looks awesome. The cuts are incredibly clean as compared to any of the electric or hand powered tools that I’ve ever used. Kudos to Bridge City.